Clash of the Bureaucrats: Gov’t House Turns Into ROV Battle Arena

Original cartoon image: Kaimaew / Facebook

BANGKOK  — Months after the junta chairman was spotted waving a glowstick to J-pop beats, the Government House sought to burnish its nerd credentials again today with bureaucrats clashing in a esports competition right in the regime’s halls of power.

For their annual sports tournament, staff attached to the cabinet competed Friday afternoon in the game of Realm of Valor, or ROV, a popular competitive multiplayer game.

Another ROV match will be held Monday for civil servants employed in the Prime Minister’s Office.

For the first time in history, esports were added to the Government House’s annual sport events, in which employees are divided into different color teams and pitted against each other in games such as volleyball, badminton and table tennis.

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Team orange reportedly prevailed in rushing lanes to smash the opposing team’s “core,” as is the goal of such “mobile battle arena” games known as mobas. Fun fact: Cores in ROV – which opposing players must destroy to win – are called pom in Thai, similar to deputy junta leader Prawit Wongsuwan’s nickname, which has led to countless jokes on the internet.

Esports were reportedly introduced to promote the government’s Thailand 4.0 project, a set of policies intended to promote a digital economy and society.

But don’t expect to see Prayuth Chan-ocha smashing his deputy Prawit with a Blitz Blade; high-ranking officials typically do not participate in the annual sports days.